Units and townhouses on the REIQ contract: the clauses for lots

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Kooky

Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.

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For years, a Queensland unit or townhouse was sold on its own standard form, the REIQ Contract for Residential Lots in a Community Titles Scheme. That separate contract is gone. According to the Queensland Law Society's Proctor, the Contract for the Sale and Purchase of Residential Real Estate, first edition, consolidated both the Contract for Houses and Residential Land (19th edition) and the community titles contract (15th edition), for contracts formed from 1 August 2025, the day the seller disclosure scheme began.

One contract does not mean one set of rules. The same form now carries a whole clause, clause 12, that switches on only when the property is a lot in a community titles scheme, and a matching clause 13 for the older schemes still run under the Building Units and Group Titles Act 1980. It also has a block of the Reference Schedule, on the front pages, that only a lot seller fills in. A buyer who has read a house contract can miss most of it.

This guide walks through that lot-only machinery: how the contract knows the property is a lot, what the seller warrants about the body corporate, what the front-page notices about defects and liabilities mean, who pays levies and special contributions, how exclusive use areas, by-laws and insurance fit in, and what the buyer must do after settlement. It stays on the contract itself. The documents a seller hands over before signing, and how to read the body corporate's records, are subjects of their own.

Queensland Law Society's Proctor on the August 2025 consolidation; the REIQ Contract for the Sale and Purchase of Residential Real Estate, first edition (form EF001A 08/25).

How the contract knows it is a lot

Clause 12 opens with a simple test: it applies if the lot is in a community titles scheme under the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997. Clause 13 applies instead if the lot sits in a parcel governed by the Building Units and Group Titles Act 1980. The Queensland Government's page on buying a body corporate property explains the split: most Queensland bodies corporate run under the 1997 Act, while schemes with no registered community management statement fall under other Acts, including the 1980 one, and Titles Queensland can confirm which applies.

On the form, the practical marker is the title search. A guide by MAP Lawyers on completing the first edition, published in December 2025, notes that a community management statement number on the title shows a community titles scheme lot. In that case the seller fills in the community titles section of the Reference Schedule and leaves the Building Units and Group Titles section blank. Only one of the two is completed, never both.

Everything that follows depends on that box being right.

A few words that change meaning

Clause 12.2 adds definitions, and then quietly changes the meaning of three ordinary words used everywhere else in the contract.

The new terms are the ones a lot buyer meets constantly. Body Corporate Levies are the regular periodic contributions charged to the lot owner, including any levy under an exclusive use by-law, but not special contributions. A Special Contribution is an amount levied for a liability the budget did not provide for, or did not provide for adequately. An Exclusive Use Area is common property allocated to the lot by an exclusive use by-law. Body Corporate Debt takes its meaning from the scheme's regulation module, but leaves out the levies for the period that includes settlement, because those are adjusted instead. The clause also defines the Principal Body Corporate, which matters in a layered scheme where the lot's scheme is a subsidiary of a larger one.

The three changed words are these:

• Outgoings now includes Body Corporate Levies, so levies are adjusted at settlement in the same way as council rates.
• Property now includes the exclusive use areas, so a courtyard or car space allocated to the lot is part of what is sold.
• Reserved Items includes chattels in those areas that are not included in the sale, so a seller's pot plants or storage cabinet in the car space can be carved out like any other excluded item.

Clause 12.2 also extends references to an "authority" so that they include the body corporate. That one line is what lets the general adjustment rules reach body corporate levies.

Latent and patent defects: the front-page notices

The most distinctive part of a lot contract is not in the standard terms at all. It is a short list on the Reference Schedule, under the heading of statutory warranties and contractual rights, where the seller notifies the buyer of matters about the body corporate. In the community titles section there are seven items:

1. latent or patent defects in common property or body corporate assets, with a reference to section 223(2)(a) and (b) of the 1997 Act;
2. actual, contingent or expected liabilities of the body corporate, referring to section 223(2)(c) and (d);
3. circumstances in relation to the affairs of the body corporate, referring to section 223(3);
4. any proposal to record a new community management statement;
5. unapproved improvements on common property that benefit the lot;
6. outstanding by-law contravention notices;
7. proposed body corporate resolutions.

The first three point to section 223 of the 1997 Act, the source of the warranties implied into the sale of a lot; MAP Lawyers refers to the search that covers them as a section 223 implied warranty search. The phrase "common property or body corporate assets" is the key: these items are about the building and the scheme, not about the inside of the unit being sold. The second item covers what the body corporate owes or may owe, and the third the circumstances of its affairs.

The disclosure on the front page is what protects the seller. A matter written there is a matter the buyer was told about before signing. MAP Lawyers stresses that, since the old section 206 disclosure statement no longer exists, it is not enough to write "refer to disclosure" in these boxes: the seller should state the information, and where the seller does not know, ask the body corporate manager or order an implied warranty search. If the information is missing or wrong, the firm notes, the buyer may be able to terminate or claim compensation.

The seller's extra warranties and meetings

Items four to six of the front-page list mirror three warranties the seller gives in clause 12.9. At the contract date, except as disclosed, the seller warrants that:

• it has not received notice of a meeting to consider a new community management statement, and is not aware of a resolution consenting to one;
• the body corporate consents needed for improvements on common property that benefit the lot are in force;
• it has not received a by-law contravention notice that is still unremedied.

The first matters because, according to the Queensland Government, recording a new community management statement is how an exclusive use by-law over a courtyard or car space is created or removed.

The remedy is limited. Under clause 12.9(2), if a warranty is breached and the buyer is materially prejudiced, the buyer may terminate by notice before settlement, but may not claim damages or compensation. Clause 12.9(3) then makes clear that this does not cut down any statutory right the buyer has that cannot be excluded. The general warranties in clause 7 still apply as well, and a lot buyer gets one extension there: clause 12.11 reads several of the "property adversely affected" grounds, such as proposals for transport infrastructure or a notice of intention to resume, as applying to any part of the scheme land, not just the lot.

A body corporate does not stop working while a lot is under contract. Clause 12.10 deals with what it decides in the meantime.

The seller must promptly give the buyer notices of proposed meetings and of resolutions passed before settlement. If a resolution passed after the contract date, and not disclosed in the contract or the seller disclosure statement, materially prejudices the buyer, the buyer may terminate by written notice before settlement. For this purpose a "resolution" includes a committee decision to consent to a new community management statement.

There is a second remedy here that clause 12.9 lacks. If the seller does not hand over the resolutions before settlement, clause 12.10(4) lets the buyer claim damages. The Queensland Government notes that annual levies are set at the annual general meeting, so a buyer whose contract runs over that meeting has a direct interest in seeing the agenda and the minutes.

The optional records inspection condition

The first edition also turned something lawyers used to write as a special condition into a standard term. Clause 12.3 makes the contract conditional on a satisfactory inspection of the body corporate's records, but only if a Records Inspection Date is written into the Reference Schedule. Left blank, the form says, the contract is not subject to it.

When it applies, the buyer must take all reasonable steps to inspect, and the test is whether the buyer will be materially prejudiced by what the records reveal. An article by FC Lawyers, published in April 2026, makes the point that this is not an open exit for any reason: the decision has to rest on what the records show. A buyer who wants a broader escape needs a different condition, such as due diligence.

If the buyer terminates under the condition, the deposit follows the contract's general rule in clause 2.3: on a termination without default by the buyer, it goes back to the buyer. What a records search turns up, and how to read it, is a separate exercise; the contract only sets the deadline and the test.

Levies at settlement, and why the discount is ignored

Because levies count as outgoings, they are apportioned at settlement under clause 3.5, the same clause that splits council rates. Levies for the period that includes the settlement date are adjusted on the amount paid, the amount assessed but unpaid, or the amount the body corporate says will be assessed.

One detail catches people out. Clause 3.5 adjusts assessed but unpaid amounts on the amount payable "excluding any discount". The Queensland Government's page on owner contributions explains that a body corporate may, by ordinary resolution, offer a discount of up to 20 per cent of an instalment paid by its due date, and may charge simple interest of up to 2.5 per cent a month on overdue amounts. Whatever discount a scheme offers for paying on time, the settlement adjustment of an assessed but unpaid levy is worked on the figure without it.

According to the Queensland Government's page on selling a body corporate property, documents such as the minutes of the annual general meeting and the seller's last contribution notice help identify the levy periods for these adjustments. The same page notes that the seller or the buyer can request an updated certificate or access to the records before settlement.

Special contributions and other debts

Ordinary levies are adjusted. Everything else the body corporate is owed is allocated by clause 12.5, and the dividing line is the contract date.

• The seller is liable for any special contribution for which a levy notice was issued on or before the contract date.
• The seller is also liable for any other body corporate debt owing at settlement, including penalties and recovery costs.
• The buyer is liable for any special contribution levied after the contract date.
• An amount payable under an exclusive use by-law is treated as levied on its due date.

The clause also says how the seller's share is paid. In an electronic settlement, it goes to the body corporate through the financial settlement schedule. Otherwise the buyer may deduct it from the balance price and pay it promptly to the body corporate.

This allocation matters because the debt follows the lot. The Queensland Government's page on buying a body corporate property warns that new owners may be liable for the previous owner's unpaid amounts. Clause 12.5 is the contract's way of making sure the seller's share is cleared on the day, rather than left for the buyer to chase.

The contract-date line explains why timing matters to both sides. The seller's share is tied to the date of the levy notice, not to the date of the meeting, so a special contribution approved before the contract but not yet the subject of a levy notice sits outside the seller's half of the clause. The front-page notices about liabilities and proposed resolutions are where such a matter comes to light.

Exclusive use, by-laws and the title

Clause 12.7 says the lot is sold subject to the 1997 Act and the body corporate's by-laws, and, in a layered scheme, to the by-laws of each higher body corporate as well. Clause 12.8 adds that the property is sold subject to the statutory easements implied by Part 6A of the Land Title Act 1994, and to interests registered on the scheme's common property. These are part of the title the buyer takes.

By-laws are where many of the practical rules of a scheme live. The Queensland Government describes them as the rules that control and manage common property, and its page on buying notes that they govern owners, occupiers and invitees, often on matters such as noise, pets and parking.

Exclusive use by-laws deserve special attention because, under the contract's definitions, the areas they allocate are part of what is sold. The Queensland Government's page on exclusive use by-laws explains that, under the 1997 Act, such a by-law is created by a resolution without dissent recording a new community management statement, with the benefiting owner's written agreement or personal vote, and takes effect only once the new statement is recorded. Unless the by-law says otherwise, the owner who benefits maintains the area and pays its running costs. The body corporate may attach conditions, including a regular fee, and an unpaid fee becomes a body corporate debt that can be recovered from a new owner if it is still unpaid when the lot is sold.

That last point links back to clause 12.5. An exclusive use fee counts as a levy under the contract's definitions, and clause 12.5 treats it as levied on its due date. A courtyard or a car space that the buyer expects to get should be traced to a recorded by-law, not to a verbal assurance or a long habit of use.

Insurance and risk before settlement

On risk, a lot contract reads exactly like a house contract. Clause 8.1 puts the property at the buyer's risk from 5pm on the first business day after the contract date. What differs is who holds the building insurance that a buyer would normally arrange.

The Queensland Government's page on body corporate building insurance, updated in July 2025, sets out the answer by plan type.

The same government pages add that the body corporate must insure common property and its assets for full replacement value, hold public risk cover of at least $10 million, and have the buildings it insures independently valued at least every five years. Owners must insure any part of the lot the body corporate does not cover, and their own contents. The buying page notes that if buildings are not insured for full replacement, the body corporate certificate describes the alternative cover in place.

For a buyer of an apartment, this usually means the building is already insured by the body corporate from the moment risk passes, and the buyer's own policy is about contents and the parts of the lot not covered. For a buyer of a free-standing home on a standard format plan, it means arranging building cover, exactly as for a house.

Pools, inspections and the lot itself

Two more practical points follow from the fact that a lot shares land with others.

The first is the pool. MAP Lawyers notes that the contract's pool details must cover any pool on the lot or on adjacent land used with it, including a shared body corporate pool, and that pool safety certificate rules apply to shared and non-shared pools alike. A conveyancing booklet for sellers prepared by Lexon Insurance on the first edition adds that for a shared pool the body corporate is responsible for obtaining the certificate, while the seller must give a notice of no pool safety certificate where none is in effect.

The second is the building and pest condition. The same booklet notes that for a community titles lot, the inspection reports must relate to the lot itself. Defects in common property are the territory of the front-page notices and the records inspection instead.

Clause 12.4 also adjusts land tax differently. Where land tax is adjusted, the lot's site value is worked out under section 29 of the Land Tax Act 2010, and if no separate value exists for the scheme land, the contract's notional formula is applied to the scheme land rather than to the lot.

After settlement: telling the body corporate

The last lot-only clause deals with the new owner's first duty. Under clause 12.6, the buyer must complete and sign a BCCM Form 8, the information for the body corporate roll, give a copy to the seller on or before settlement, and give the form to the body corporate promptly after settlement. If the buyer does not, the seller is authorised to send the copy.

The roll is how the body corporate knows who owns the lot and where to send its notices.

The October 2026 version of the form keeps the first edition number: the Queensland Law Society describes its amendment as minor, clarifying in clause 7.11 that the buyer may copy documents held by authorities. The lot machinery described here is the first edition's clause 12, its seven boxes and its contract-date line for special contributions. Read together with the seller's disclosure documents and the body corporate's own records, they are what makes a unit or townhouse sale different from a house sale on the same form.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Queensland Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for Queensland property professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

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